Paddy arrival surges in Chhattisgarh societies

Paddy arrival had surged in the societies set up by the Chhattisgarh government to procurement at the minimum support price during the Kharif marketing season 2016-17.

“As of now, about 5,50,000 tonnes of paddy had arrived in the societies that had been satisfactory,” a state government spokesperson said. The paddy procurement in the state started on November 15 and would continue till January 31. The cap of procuring 15 quintals of paddy per acre would continue in the season.

The state-run Chhattisgarh Marketing Federation (MARKFED) is the nodal agency for procuring paddy from the farmers at the minimum support price (MSP). The MARKFED had set up 1988 primary agricultural cooperative societies across the state for procuring paddy at the MSP.

The support price of paddy common variety has been raised to Rs. 1,470 per quintal, while A grade variety paddy has been increased to Rs. 1,510 per quintal for 2016-17.

The spokesperson said Raipur district topped the list of maximum paddy procured. Over 64,000 tonnes of paddy had been procured in the district. The arrival of paddy across the state was satisfactory and the target set by the state government would be achieved, he added.

Chhattisgarh government had set a target to procure 6.5 million tonnes (MT) of paddy during the Kharif marketing season 2016-17.  The MARKFED chairman Radhakrishna Gupta had said they would be requiring Rs 9,685 crore for procuring paddy this year.

The fund would be managed by short-term loans that would be taken from different banks through National Cooperative Development Corporation, Gupta added.